Drones

The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute has secured nearly $90M from the Department of War's ManTech office to modernize the Organic Industrial Base — the network of military manufacturing facilities that produce and maintain U.S. military equipment. Fifteen member organizations will deploy robotics and AI solutions across 12 sites to improve safety in explosives production, accelerate mission readiness via drones, and remove production bottlenecks, with workforce training integrated into each project.

Hermeus has selected Anduril to provide mission autonomy software for its Quarterhorse Mk 2 high-speed drone, which is being developed under Pentagon funding to reach Mach 3. The partnership shifts Quarterhorse from remote-piloted operations to autonomous control, positioning both firms for future high-speed autonomous strike platforms while Anduril gains a testbed for its Lattice autonomy suite beyond its Collaborative Combat Aircraft work.

AIR has partnered with Elmo Motion Control to integrate high-voltage servo drives into its AIR 120D cargo drone, enabling air-cooled operation that eliminates liquid cooling systems. The weight reduction translates directly into increased payload capacity for a platform designed to serve both commercial logistics and defense resupply missions.

Germany has formally attributed an August 4 failed drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport to Russia, citing intelligence findings and attack patterns. The explosive-laden drone fell near a Ukrainian cargo plane used for munitions transport but failed to detonate; two similar drones were found at the site in subsequent weeks. Berlin's response includes closing Russia's Bonn consulate, terminating cultural center leases, and implementing stricter visa controls for Russian nationals.

The U.S. Navy has issued an RFI for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1 program, seeking two carrier-capable autonomous wingman prototypes that can fly alongside manned fighters. The aggressive timeline targets shore-based carrier certification within three years of contract award, with a $30M unit cost target — one-third the price of an F-35 — positioning the Navy to join the Air Force and Marine Corps in fielding loyal wingman systems by decade's end.

The U.S. Navy released an RFI for carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) specifying 5-ton weapons capacity, $30M unit cost, and integration with Ford- and Nimitz-class carriers without infrastructure changes. The program aims to field autonomous combat drones that team with manned aircraft in contested environments while absorbing attrition at lower replacement cost than traditional platforms.

Researchers at Université de Sherbrooke have demonstrated the Ice Dart, a quadcopter with cat-inspired retractable claws that achieved 24 successful landings on slopes up to 58 degrees during trials on Iceland's Fjallsjökull glacier. The system enables drones to perch on steep ice for extended monitoring rather than burning battery in hover, opening new capabilities for Arctic surveillance, iceberg tracking, and environmental research in regions where traditional methods are costly and limited.

L3Harris and Shield AI completed the first live flight test of autonomous electronic warfare, with unmanned aircraft detecting, analyzing, and responding to electromagnetic threats without human intervention. The demonstration paired L3Harris's DiSCO battle-management ecosystem and Deceptor EW payload with Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software aboard a Green Wolf launched-effects platform, proving the ability to compress the sensor-to-decision cycle and autonomously reroute aircraft through safe zones in real time.

AeroVironment received an $80.5M task order to provide AI-enabled counter-drone systems for Air Force Global Strike Command bases under the Pentagon's Domestic Shield initiative. The deployment follows unauthorized drone incursions at Barksdale Air Force Base earlier this year and marks the first order under a $500M IDIQ contract awarded to AV last week.

Enabled Intelligence has released a collection of over 500,000 hours of labeled Ukraine conflict drone footage for AI model training, covering electro-optical, infrared, and SAR sensors. The dataset provides real-world combat conditions — weather variability, terrain diversity, dynamic battlefield scenarios — that simulated training data cannot replicate, accelerating development of autonomous targeting and ISR systems.

The Senate Armed Services Committee's FY2027 defense bill authorizes the Pentagon to establish a Robotic and Autonomous Systems Combatant Command, led by a four-star general with special acquisition and test authorities. The move responds to persistent delivery failures in programs like Replicator and aims to centralize drone procurement and force generation before transitioning capabilities back to the services.

Anduril deployed its Lattice C2 platform during the US Army's Flytrap 5.0 exercise in Lithuania, integrating over 30 sensors and effectors into a unified counter-UAS kill chain. The exercise demonstrated software-defined fire control in a live environment, where operators detected, tracked, and destroyed drone targets using Lattice-enabled track fusion and cueing. It signals the Army's shift toward open-architecture C2 systems capable of connecting disparate hardware in compressed engagement windows.

Merlin has introduced Merlin Pilot for Commercial Cargo, an AI-powered flight system designed to operate large cargo aircraft autonomously. The company is pursuing staged certification, starting with the system as a co-pilot alongside human safety pilots, then advancing to fully autonomous operation as it gathers regulatory approval and flight data.

Shield AI secured a Pentagon contract to integrate its Hivemind autonomy software onto LUCAS one-way attack drones, enabling coordinated swarm operations with a single human operator retaining strike authority. The pilot program, run by the USD(R&E), represents a major step toward operationalizing collaborative autonomy in contested, communications-denied environments and ties directly into Defense Secretary Hegseth's $55B Drone Dominance initiative.

Self-driving car companies are repeating mistakes the U.S. military solved decades ago in unmanned aerial vehicle operations, according to autonomous systems researcher Missy Cummings. Remote supervision of autonomous vehicles requires low latency, careful interface design, operator workload management, rigorous training, and contingency planning — yet commercial deployments show gaps in all five areas, with some operators now based in the Philippines where network delays amplify control risks.

Bone AI, a Seoul and Palo Alto-based startup, has raised a $12M seed round led by Third Prime to develop autonomous air, ground, and marine vehicles for defense and government clients. The company is positioning itself as a "physical AI" firm that integrates software, hardware design, and large-scale manufacturing — a gap in South Korea's defense ecosystem despite the country's $69B defense order backlog and status as Europe's second-largest arms supplier. Bone has already secured a seven-figure government contract and $3M in first-year revenue, partly by acquiring South Korean drone company D-Makers for its IP and manufacturing capability.